The Los Angeles Lakers lost out on the Dwight Howard sweepstakes, suffered a freak number of injuries last season and are handcuffed by their inability to sign any substantial additions to the roster. Their hands are tied given their luxury tax situation, and that means that they have to go into the 2013-14 campaign with tempered expectations.

ESPN’s projection that the Lakers will finish 12th among the Western Conference’s 15 teams rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, most notably, superstar Kobe Bryant:

It’s a typical, Mamba-like response from Bryant, who has made a career out of thriving off the hatred of others. It’s one of the reasons that he plays so well in Madison Square Garden or inexplicably was able to put together a string of world-class performances while under intense legal pressure as a result of his sexual assault trial.

In other words, he’s as focused as they come. More importantly, he’s one of the most driven and self-motivated athletes we’ve ever seen. The fact that no one is picking the Lakers to be a lottery team even though they feature three future Hall of Famers is a slight that Bryant will undoubtedly use to fuel him further.

The Lakers will surprise a lot of people next year, and apparently, that includes the good folks over at ESPN.com.

Michael C. Jones is the managing editor and founder of Sports Out West and a Southern California-based sports journalist. His credits include Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report, among many others. You can catch up with him on Twitter: @MikeJonesTweets.